Tuesday, October 16

Senelicious

After his surprising 15-rebound game against Indiana over the weekend, the Sonics' resident Senegalese center, Mo Sene, found himself featured in not one, not two, but all three of the Seattle dailies today. Usually that sort of coverage is reserved for, oh, I don't know, a guy who might have a chance at being a starter, but, well, it's pre-season and everyone's got stories to fill.

Unfortunately, one game does not a season make. If you watched Sene in the summer league, you know there are holes in his game as wide as Danny Fortson's now-departed backside. For every athletic block, there are four missed assignments. Those misses don't show up on his stat sheet, but they show up on the final score, and that second number is much more important.

But enough negativity; let's give credit to Sene for his ability to shake off the D-League expectations he's facing this fall and show that he can play with the big boys. Does it merit a start against the Lakers in Bakersfield? No, I don't think so, but apparently PJ Carlesimo does. Personally, I'd rather see more minutes for Bob Swift or Nick Collison.

With the minutes that Swift/Collision/Thomas will be getting at center, is it worth it to even have Petro or Sene around? Personally, I am willing to give Sene another go round in D-league and come up in a crunch or when Ronald McSwift knees fail again.

This preseason is “make or break” for Petro. With so much competition for minutes at center, he will be lucky to get anything but garbage time. By the time you give Swift, Thomas, and Collision their minutes, the pickings is slim to none. Plus he is limited as he is not mobile enough to play at the four.

From my viewpoint he is the odd man out. The question then is if we could get anything out of him in a trade. He is still relatively cheap, young, and not many years left on his contract. I wonder if Presti can shake a second rounder for him. Hhhmmm

Depending on how he plays this year, Petro might even get us a late first-rounder. We give him a lot of flak, but the guy is still 7' tall, young, and not inept offensively. Someone will still want him.